Robot Guardian
by I'mSolidSnaek
Summary: There were a lot of things I didn't expect, such as having my lamp attack me or encountering psychic aliens for the first time. But this has to go into the top ten: Not only meeting a robot but also forming a bond with it, somehow. Unfortunately, it was doomed from the start.


**Hello everybody. I certainly didn't expect to come up with an idea like this, but once I did it refused to leave my mind, so I had to write about it. In my opinion, EVE is one of the most underrated characters in the series, but for understandable reasons. She is only in a small portion of the game, she barely has a personality (she's a robot, plus limitations that the game overall suffered from makes that understandable), and once she leaves she doesn't come back. But the fact remains that she plays one of the most vital roles in the plot of Mother 1/Earthbound Beginnings/Earthbound Zero and is the most overpowered companion in the game, probably in the series since even Dungeon Man isn't as powerful as her, so I wanted to write a little tribute for her. Well, enjoy the fanfic.**

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There is an old saying. It says something that is along the lines of "hindsight is twenty/twenty." Given my own experiences, this is very much true. There is so much I see now that I would change if I could. But the brief time with EVE at our side would not be one that I could change no matter what I did.

When we were sucked into a whirlpool while crossing Mt. Itoi's lake, the last thing any of us expected was that we'd wind up in my great-grandfather's secret lab, which was precisely what happened.

Confused, but not deterred, we proceeded to the very heart of the lab, observing the aquatic life as we went thanks to the giant windows along the sides. Another thing we didn't expect was that we would run into a robot twice my size (I was the tallest of us) that was designed specifically to help us, which was fortunately that was the case. After all, another ally is far more preferable than another enemy.

'Her' name was EVE (she had a more... Feminine voice you could say). She was built in the last few years of my great-grandfather's life and hidden away from civilization until one of his descendants found his way to her. Turns out, in one way or another, he must have predicted the future and what would happen. I don't know how he did, but it doesn't matter (though I digress, it is interesting to speculate).

She proved her worth almost immediately when the glass holding back the water mysteriously collapsed, likely because the aliens discovered us down there and flooded it in order to kill us. It was war, after all. When we were swept up from the current, panic flooded my mind and I flailed around helplessly to try and regain control of my movements, with little success. From what I could see Ana and Loid fared little better. In that moment, fear flooded me, thinking that this would be the end, drowning at the bottom of a lake, which would've been quite an unglamorous death for all we've been through (which included being blasted by lasers from Starmen, nearly crushed by robots, turned into stone by Mooks, et cetera) if I do say so myself.

But EVE resisted the current and somehow grabbed ahold of and easily hoisted all three of us out of the water, me and my companions shivering and gasping for air and probably feeling that we should kiss the ground. Before we could recover from our near-death experience, three Oh-Mooks swarmed us sneering evilly as they readied three PK Freeze Alphas to put us out of our misery. In our current condition we would be no match for them. But EVE threw herself in the path of their attacks, saving our lives. Incredibly, she only seemed to suffer superficial damage.

Her response was far more deadly, raising her arms with two laser cannons extending from each. She took aim at one and fired both. I remember vividly that one punched through the mouth and the other the eye right above it, both shots shooting out the back. It was one of the most horrifying scenes I have ever witnessed in my life, and I've seen a lot of things that would make grown adults wet themselves.

The other two Oh-Mooks roared in fury at the death of their comrade, and continued to bombard EVE with Freeze Alphas, but their efforts were futile. Something on EVE's back detached and she grabbed it, the object now extended into a menacing broadsword whose edges glowed bright orange with heat energy. With one stroke, she decapitated both Oh-Mooks, therefore ending the battle.

Gazing upon the corpses of our enemies, I was torn on what to feel about EVE. A part of me was grateful for her saving our skins when we really needed help, but another part of me was revolted at the carnage before my eyes, shaken by the amount of gore splattered on the ground. The first part of my feelings argued that the Oh-Mooks would've done the same to us and that if they didn't they would've died anyway, and probably not as quickly.

Two more Oh-Mooks arrived on the scene as we were ready to move out. They took one look at their comrades and fled. I can't say I blame them; I was quite frightened myself of our new companion even though EVE was on our side.

Proceeding further up the mountain, two Giga Borgs and one Omega Borg jumped us, but EVE proved to be the superior robot when she dismantled all three single-handedly with once again minor damage. Loid could repair her damages from those battles, so we weren't too worried then. In fact, our confidence was soaring witnessing EVE taking out enemies that the three of us would struggle against with ease. In addition, we weren't disturbed by bloodshed because there were no organic creatures from then on out. The Last Starmen were technically cyborgs, but they seemed to be more machine than organic, evidenced by their lack of blood and their sparking mechanical parts. Plus, they only appeared rarely, though in groups of three and four. It made little difference in the face of EVE's arsenal.

Throughout our treck, we were able to conserve our energy since EVE was more than capable of handling anything that the aliens could throw at us. I seriously doubted that Great-Grandpa George used human technology to build EVE: He did claim he was abducted by aliens (even though people thought he was mad), so the use of their tech for constructing our guardian robot was plausible.

In fact, weeks after the final battle, I spoke to Loid and one of the topics we discussed was EVE. He speculated she was made out of the same materials and wielded similar weaponry as that comprised the R703X series robots that nearly destroyed us twice. She wasn't as powerful due to being significantly smaller and not having as powerful of a power source as her larger opponents, but she could chew through the aliens' grunts with contempous ease.

As we continued along the mountain trail, dismantling every robot that crossed our path, I came to a realization: I had started to form a bond with EVE.

At first, I thought I was being ridiculous and mentally berated myself for having such ridiculous thoughts. Robots don't have any emotions, I argued, so why should I fret about a machine whose only purpose was to kill? Programming emotions into robots was an impossible feat in my eyes, given that even the Starmen didn't feel a wide range of emotions and they were part organic. And even if we had the capability, I would be uncomfortable because we would basically be playing God, and whenever someone tries to play God it doesn't end well for them. Besides, her always giving statistics for everything got kind of annoying to the three of us over time.

But as time went on, my increased attachment to her could not be denied. For example, after one battle where she took a particularly nasty hit from a PK Beam Beta, I asked if she was okay. She replied in the usual emotionless affirmative, but that small question and the concern I had proved I had broken my vow: I had unbelievably formed a bond with the machine, one-sided or not. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have been able to get to the peak and save humanity. We owe so much to her.

Unfortunately, that bond was doomed right from the start, though I would not find out until after her destruction.

Her demise came in the form of the virtually indestructible R7038XX, an upgraded version of the R7038 that had nearly killed me and Ana, and had very likely inflicted mortal wounds on Teddy. Even though Loid had picked the R7038 off with an expert shot from the tank that he borrowed, it was too late to prevent the attack. No matter what we did, it wouldn't even scratch it. Not even a relentless bombardment of Ana's PSI affected it and my shields couldn't take its sheer power, crumpling upon contact (though blunting some damage thankfully), and this was an upgraded version: Our chances of survival were far worse than the last encounter.

EVE immediately opened fire with her dual laser cannons, causing multiple explosions around its body but only with minor dents (still, more than what we accomplished without a tank). In response, R7038XX shot a single laser from one of its palms. It tore off one of EVE's arms with a single shot. EVE took her broadsword out with her only remaining hand and tried to cut off one of its legs, but was simply kicked away after a few meaningless blows. We tried to cover her with whatever we could: I was smacking away at one of its legs with my bat and feet in a constant barrage despite my asthma, Ana was unloading her entire arsenal of Offensive PSI on it, practically screaming the name of every attack (It is worthwhile noting that saying the attack somehow gives greater control and power, but it is entirely possible to do it without saying a word, and is probably to your advantage), and Loid had a steady stream of fire coming from his flamethrower and throwing in an occasional bomb. Yet for all of our efforts, it was futile.

Another laser from R7038XX sliced through EVE's broadsword, leaving her with only one laser cannon as a weapon. Before now, she never had a reason to use her last ability, but now the jetpack on her back flared to life, boosting her to the 'head' of the robot, and opened fire with her only remaining cannon at the robot's visor. R7038XX simply backhanded her into a nearby cliff, which the impact caused her laser cannon to fall off, in pieces.

Great-Grandpa George must have foreseen this event, or prepared for the possibility, because EVE's next and last action was what did in R7038XX. She triggered a special program within her only to be used in emergencies such as this. Her jetpack was damaged, but was operational enough to reach her destination. She shot towards R7038XX, her eyes now a crimson red, not their normal yellow. The enemy robot raised a hand to shoot a laser at her, but it was too late.

Her final words warned us to get away from R7038XX as fast as we could (without giving a statistic), and we barely cleared it when she flew into it. Even with her speed, she couldn't penetrate the thick armor plating of the alien menace, but that wasn't what she intended. She just simply needed to get close enough so that her self-destruct feature could take it down with her.

In a spectacular explosion that nearly threw us from the mountain, both robots disappeared in an orange ball of flame, a massive shockwave uprooting trees and showing boulders. If we weren't thrown against the cliff wall, we would've died. If I hadn't used Defense Up Beta and if Ana hadn't deployed a Shield Beta over us during the initial stages of the battle, we would've died anyways.

It seemed to take an eternity for the smoke to clear after we recovered from the shockwave. However, within the minute it had. There was only a small pile of mechanical left, EVE's wreckage mixed with the remains of R7038XX. I remember slowly walking towards it, slowly shaking my head as I was in a state of complete disbelief over the sight before me. How could two robots so powerful and so dominant be reduced to this tiny pile of scrap within minutes?

Right after that thought, I became faintly aware of some sort of liquid running down my cheek. Instantly, I realized that I was crying, crying for the first time in years. I kneeled next to the wreckage and sobbed, mourning the loss of a robot that I never thought I'd bond with. My parents drilled into me that I shouldn't cry, that crying is a form of weakness, and that weakness is easily exploited. That voice in the back of my mind nagged me until I felt a hand on my left shoulder and an arm around my back. I didn't even need to look that it was Loid and Ana, and that they shared my grief for the loss of EVE.

It's funny how it works sometimes: We humans become attached to inanimate objects over time and we hold them close as if they were the keys to life. Something similar to that happened with EVE, but since she was actually speaking and fighting alongside us… It didn't feel like that. It's tough to explain.

It's like… she was a mixture between a person and inanimate object. She didn't have emotions… yet she did in her own way. She was programmed to help us drive back the aliens, her sole function. She watched our backs, enabled us to get through obstacles that would've taken us three down if it weren't for her. We… owe her our lives, a debt that can never truly be repaid. I guess that debt we owed influenced the development of our bonds with her.

However, we had no such thoughts at this time. Our thoughts were instead turned toward the loss of our comrade. At least when we left Teddy with that doctor he still had a chance to live. Small, but it was still there. Now, it was evident that our robot guardian had left us forever, and at a point where we started to view her not as a robot… but as a human. And we felt like it was a human life that was taken just now, not a robot.

However, amidst our grieving our ears picked up something. It sounded like… somebody singing. I nearly jumped when I realized it was one of the Eight Melodies we had to collect: The seventh one too. Thankfully, we remembered it even though we only listened to it most of the way through once.

The song also served to restore our senses. I recalled our mission, temporarily forgotten in our grief, what we had to do. We all knew that the final battle was near, so we couldn't waste our time grieving over every single loss. We will retain EVE in our memories, but that was it. We will ensure that her sacrifice was not in vain. Turning around to face my companions, I saw expressions that mirrored my own, and we all knew what was on our minds.

I voiced it anyway. "We're nearly there. We must honor EVE's sacrifice and fulfill her, and our mission."

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 **Well, I hope you liked it. As always, constructive criticism is most welcome if you have any to offer. Other than that, have a good day!**


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